Dick Seacup

Agree with others on several points: That stand is intriguing. The chair is retro-cool. That break is not-so-bad; get it to a good luthier. That all being said, I've heard for years that, on Gibbons-style guitars, a head stock break actually makes them sound somehow better. Apocryphal, wive's tale, plural of anecdote isn't data, whatever...always wondered if it was true. Let us know?

I went back through my Messages/Posts...sold it to Brent; thinking no chance to track it down further. <sigh> Here's another nice one; think this went to @MartyGrass (but, as always, am likely wrong):

There are not a lot of H-137DDs in the wild. My recollection is Ren told me once less than a dozen and a half for sure and maybe as low as 10-12. That one is like the prettier sister to my "Hornet" (so sayeth the engraved truss rod cover). Even considering the head stock break/fix, that's a good deal.

I love a Chet bar on a ToneSucker. If I recall, the H-170 had the butter knife. Or maybe it was more of a gardening trowel. That 555 is absolutely, drop dead gorgeous, Bird!

Once upon a time, deep in the mists of HOC history, some member here once owned a beautifully figured and finished H-170 that may have had an ebony board and trap inlays. The only oddity of the build was a Bigsby. For whatever reason, said owner of said guitar dubbed the Bigsby "The ToneSucker(tm)". He may have even taken pictures of the ToneSucker H-170 with his kids' cat, making various disparaging remarks. He was probably inebriated at the time, but who can say? Truth be told, that particular guitar, in that particular configuration, was an absolute monster. According to the legend, it played like the proverbial butter (not the cultureally-insensitive Land 'O Lakes kind, either; think the kind your great-great-grandmother made with a churn down on the farm) and sounded like the Voice of <insert-diety-of-your-choice-here> with the HRW pickups. It even had the cool black switch tip with the white dot, they say! In a bout of stupidity (something that happened over and over), said owner offered for sale the fabled ToneSucker(tm) H-170 here on the HOC. Who bought it is, alas, also lost in the mists of HOC history, and it has never surfaced again. The ToneSucker(tm) has, thus, attained mythical proportions and serves as a touchstone of what the original owners were capable of delivering during the golden age. Rob, Jim, Lyle, Brent, probably several others can back up this apocryphal tale as I believe they may have actually handled (or maybe merely laid eyes on) said ToneSucker(tm) H-170 at one of the early PSPs. I only repeat the story as it's been handed down to me. I can neither confirm nor deny the veracity of any of the preceding.

It wouldn't have occurred to me at the time, but now...if they'd made those in a four string, fretless, short-scale bass....

In memoriam, A. A. H. Why must I continually relive this pain?

But it has a ToneSucker(tm) and that adds tremendously to the value of any instrument.

Interesting take on the song, I enjoyed it for what it is and appreciate the sharing. I hadn't noticed the skirt issue until Brent pointed it out. 🤡 What I don't care for...<self-edit to remove grumpy rant>

I liked the vid, but dammit...needs more guitar shots! I don't want to see your backside, man, I want to see the guitar!!!!

Two of my favorite things in K'zoo...Heritage guitars and Crow's Nest. I wish they wouldn't have advertised it...the wait is awful. But worth it!

Yes.

My grandfather used to say, "You can't make chicken soup out of chicken poop." It never seemed to fit with the context of the situation. At least to me, but I was young and stupid (as opposed to now: old and stupid). I have this "crappy" solid-state Peavey Bandit 112 (Now! With! TransTube! Techonolgy!) from maybe, I don't know, at least 25 years ago. I've been through some amps and that is the only one I've kept long term. It doesn't stand a chance next to the Rob/Lyle Vibrolux I'm fortunate enough to be caretaker for. But, I wouldn't expect it to. On the other hand, the Peavey requires no care and feeding, and it does the job just fine about 90% of the time. I built an ax84.com p1x a long time ago, from a BOM and schematic. That doesn't hold a candle to the Vibrolux either, and it's tube. So <shrug>

Telecasters truly are the Swiss Army knife of guitars. Used for everything from blues to jazz to reggae to rock 'n roll to pop to country to you name it. That Tokai is a real looker, too. Good luck with the band and gigs! I <3 gig reports, so I'm hoping you post a few.